MLB Analysts Rip Giants Over Bryce Eldridge Situation – heavy.com

The San Francisco Giants are running into a serious problem with top prospect Bryce Eldridge. And Foul Territory concurs. 
 
In 28 big league at-bats, the towering 6’7 slugger has an abysmal .143 batting average and a 38 OPS+. 
The Giants were betting on Eldridge to be a force for years to come. With a lineup full of middling stars, the last thing President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey needed was a scuffling prospect. 
Since his floundering start, it’s become apparent that The Bay is wandering away from the Eldridge approach. It’s been such a rough go that the rookie’s role has been dialed down to ‘glorified pinch hitter.’
Analysts around the league have raised eyebrows at how the top prospect is being handled. One former player in particular is fed up. 
Eric Kratz, a former big league catcher and now analyst for The Foul Territory Network, believes Eldridge deserves more of a shot. 
“You don’t call your prospects up to fill in,” said Kratz. “You call your prospects up because it’s time to go. In the long run, it’s not as good for the player as teams would think. ‘Oh, it’s okay, it’s totally fine, Bryce Eldridge can come up right now, and he can sit on the bench. Teams are afraid of us pinch-hitting him.’ They’re not [afraid]. It’s not fair, he’s never done it! It’s hard enough. You learn to do that at the end of your career. You don’t pinch-hit as a prospect in the big leagues, that SUCKS. That is really hard to do, and I think they’re putting him in a spot to fail. If you call Bryce Eldridge up, he plays. Bar none. You have to find him at-bats, or you leave him in Triple-A.” 
AJ Pierzynski, another former MLB backstop and Foul Territory host, added onto Kratz’s point. 
“This is a Buster Posey thing. It has to be. There’s no other way to look at it,” Pierzynski added. “If this were Tony Vitello and Buster wanted him to play, Buster would be like, ‘Tony, you need to play Bryce Eldridge.’ And if he said no, then Buster would be like, ‘You need to play him.’ 
Kratz didn’t entirely agree with Pierzynski’s point. 
“I think it could be the other way,” he interjected. “Buster hired this guy for a reason. He didn’t hire him to keep him like a puppet, as other organizations do. So maybe he’s like, ‘This is your team, go play them.’” 
Pirezynski followed up on Kratz’s disagreement with his own. 
“That makes zero sense,” he replied. “If I’m Buster, then I’m like, ‘Okay fine, you’re not gonna play him? Then I’m gonna send him back down to Triple-A, where he can get at-bats. He’s doing me no good.’ That is not a Tony Vitello thing. That is an organizational Buster Posey, whoever else is in the front office thing.” 
Regardless of how you look at it, one thing is clear: Eldridge hasn’t been handled correctly. 
Whether it’s playing or demoting Eldridge, moving or doubling down on expensive contracts, or deciding the future of their organization as a whole, San Fran has major decisions approaching. 
With a current record of 20-30, it’s trending towards Buster Posey being a seller. If that’s the case, Eldridge will have been riding months of pine to no avail. Here are the four words of the day for Giants’ fans: beware the fire sale. 
 
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AJ Stone AJ Stone is a baseball writer for Heavy, covering MLB news and various trends. His work has also appeared on Redbird Rants, Inside Halos, District on Deck, and other digital outlets. With a focus on analytics, he aims to blend data with storytelling for an engaging experience for his readers. More about AJ Stone
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